Nonprofit Organizations & Charitable Giving

Our clients include public charities, private foundations, corporate foundations, and other tax-exempt organizations (e.g., 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6), etc.). Our engagements for these clients include choice and creation of appropriate entity, application for tax-exempt status, and ongoing governance and compliance matters – often serving as outside general counsel for these organizations.

For our larger nonprofit organizations, our attorneys work across groups and practice areas to bring insight and perspective on matters related to litigation, labor and employment, intellectual property, trademarks and licensing, real estate, and general corporate governance. We have managed IRS audits on behalf of tax-exempt organizations, and our attorneys often participate in and advise directors during board meetings.

We represent many public charities, corporate foundations, and community foundations in the Charlotte community and the Southeast region.

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Representative Experience

• Advised several corporate foundations on the IRS requirements, tax consequences, and practical aspects of establishing an employee relief fund in connection with COVID-19 and other qualified disasters
• Provided advice and counsel to numerous corporate foundations on tax and corporate matters applicable to private foundations, including self-dealing transactions, minimum distribution requirements and grantmaking processes, taxable expenditures, shared services agreements, and scholarship programs
• Served as counsel to a membership-based, economic development 501(c)(6) organization in connection with a corporate restructuring, rebranding, and combination transaction with another economic development organization
• Served as general counsel to a nonprofit economic development organization that was responsible for hosting and funding a national political convention. We formed the entity, applied for and received tax-exempt status on an expedited basis, and reviewed and negotiated all contracts and agreements on behalf of the host committee
• Applied for and received a favorable letter ruling from the IRS regarding an unusual grant to a public charity educational foundation